The So-Called ‘War on Terrorism

Dave Thomas

Conservatives used the Cold War to support the military industrial complex’s competition with the Soviet Union, to resist any liberal governments in developing counties and to attack liberals and liberty here at home.  Now they have invented a War on Terrorism for the same purposes.   At most, we had a struggle against El Qaeda similar to the struggle against the mafia or the drug cartels.  We have won that struggle, with remaining threats requiring police action, not military action.  The closest approximation to a terrorist act in the United States since 9-11 has been the arson of 10 Alabama churches by 3 drunken college students.   There have been no terrorist acts committed by immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

 

The Iraq War is not a war against terrorism.  We started the war to remove Saddam Hussein.  We succeeded, but greatly messed up the aftermath.  Our Iraqi opponents are fighting against our occupation of Iraq.  When we leave Iraq, they will no longer be fighting us.  Hopefully they won’t be fighting each other.

 

Opposing Terrorism or Other Spending Priorities? 060428

‘Ferries a top terror target, FBI cautions’ is the largest headline in our Friday, April 21st Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  The article only indicates that a terrorist attack could create much destruction of people and property, citing no evidence that any attack is being planned.  Even if an attack was successful the carnage would be less than results each year from drunk driving.

 

We see how many people in are area are employed to detect terrorism at our airports, public buildings and ferries and can imagine how many others are working at other facilities, with no terrorist acts detected.  Imagine that most of these people were working to improve our under-funded research, health, education, housing, transportation  and other services or even to build a new basketball stadium.  Instead of spending huge sums of public money to counter imaginary threats (posed mostly by conservatives), let’s use most of this money privately or publicly to counter real threats to our welfare.